Is God Completely Omniscient?

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spockrates said:
A wise saint is not likely to talk nonsense! So I ought to try to understand him. Would you say Aquinas disagrees with the words of Isaiah?
18 “Come now, let us reason together,”
says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.”

(Isaiah 1:18)

Or do you think he would agree that using sound reason is a way to learn the truth about God’s forgiveness?
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See posts 179 and 180. They answer for me better than I could have.
 
spockrates said:
Not sure I understand. How do I not know what I am thinking? Will you give me an example of a thought I have but don’t know?
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You have never acted purposefully and yet without examining your own motives? You have never made a decision and then thought later, “What was I thinking?” As it turns out, a great deal of our purposeful behavior is not the result of examined thought.

You might want to read “Thinking, Fast and Slow” by Daniel Kahneman. There are many psychological experiments in it that demonstrate the concept.
 
JDaniel said:
Spockrates:

If I may: we must never forget that there is no potency in God. That includes, in my opinion, the “possible.” We don’t know what God has created. We only know the past few thousand years. Prior to these recent years, we have fossil and geological records. Are we not discovering things new to us every day somewhere in the universe? IMHO, God is instantiating every possibility as we speak.

Why doesn’t God create monsters? Well, He has. If the findings in the fossil records are the remains of actual creatures! Then, consider the preparation of the Earth for the likes of us and our intense need for fossil fuel. Consider artists’ depictions of ancient critters on the land and in the seas. If you can think of something He hasn’t thought of, that may be worth millions to you. We are to some unfathomable extent hampered by our own limitations.

A number of your inquiries are unanswerable by men. The Church has, throughout its life, considered many things, and as best as it could, in earlier times, provided answers to those questions. But, many will remain unanswered and unanswerable until they are answered.

God bless,
jd
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But JD, isn’t it possible for God to destroy our gallaxy? Yet he does not. So doesn’t this mean he has the potential to destroy, but chooses to not actuallize this potential act?
 
spockrates said:
But JD, isn’t it possible for God to destroy our gallaxy? Yet he does not. So doesn’t this mean he has the potential to destroy, but chooses to not actuallize this potential act?
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I would say that every moment that the universe continues to exist, it is by the grace of God, yes. IOW, I think the gift of existence is ongoing, every moment.
 
spockrates said:
What I’m asking is this: Since God has the power to destroy our gallaxy in a ink of an eye, why doesn’t he do so?
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Because to destroy what He created would be a contradiction. God is all good. What He creates is good. Destroying something good is not good. God cannot do what is not good.
 
davidv said:
Because to destroy what He created would be a contradiction. God is all good. What He creates is good. Destroying something good is not good. God cannot do what is not good.
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Yes, David I agree. It would seem, then that God’s love limits what God’s power will do. One might also say that God has the power to choose what he will think about. For he does not entertain evil thoughts. So it’s possible God’s power limits his knowledge. One might even say God’s knowledge–or wisdom–guides his love. For he does not love everyone the same way. Those saints in heaven are likely blessed in ways that the damned will never experience. It is not wise to love everyone exactly the same, so it’s likely God’s wisdom limits what God’s love will do.

Reminds me of the game I played with a friend when I was younger–rock, paper, scissors. Paper covered rock. Rock smashed scissors. Scissors cut paper. No one of them was greater than all.

We might say the same about God’s attributes–love, power, knowledge. Love limits power. Power controls knowledge. Knowledge guides love. No one of them is greater than all. For each is in perfect ballance with the others.
 
spockrates said:
What I’m asking is this: Since God has the power to destroy our gallaxy in a ink of an eye, why doesn’t he do so?
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Spockrates:

The best I can do with that question is ask Him when I see Him - if I remember to. 😉

Oh, and, the flood was pretty effective the first time He used it.

God bless,
jd
 
spockrates said:
But JD, isn’t it possible for God to destroy our gallaxy? Yet he does not. So doesn’t this mean he has the potential to destroy, but chooses to not actuallize this potential act?
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Spockrates:

No; it may mean that He is still rolling out Creation. He’s not finished with Creation yet. Why create and destroy simultaneously? Isn’t that contradictory?

God bless,
jd
 
JDaniel said:
Spockrates:

The best I can do with that question is ask Him when I see Him - if I remember to. 😉

Oh, and, the flood was pretty effective the first time He used it.

God bless,
jd
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Hey, JD. Effective? Yes. Loving? For Noah, perhaps. For those drowned, I don’t know. I’m thinking God did not love the judged to the fullest extent, because Noah’s family survived the disaster, but they did not.
 
JDaniel said:
Spockrates:

No; it may mean that He is still rolling out Creation. He’s not finished with Creation yet. Why create and destroy simultaneously? Isn’t that contradictory?

God bless,
jd
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Precisely! For God to do everything he could do would be powerful, but contradictory. It would be a display of omnipotence, but not a display of omniscience. For it would be illogical and unwise. Neither would it be a display of omnibenevolence, as it would be unloving and out of character for the omnibenevolent God. A God who knows all, always knows what is wise and will not do otherwise. He always does what results in the greatest love.

Rock, paper, scissors, my virtual friend! Love covers power, so God does not do everything, but only that which is most loving. Agreed?
 
spockrates said:
Hey, JD. Effective? Yes. Loving? For Noah, perhaps. For those drowned, I don’t know. I’m thinking God did not love the judged to the fullest extent, because Noah’s family survived the disaster, but they did not.
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Spockrates:

Why? Because He took them back before they had the opportunity to make themselves completely corrupted? I don’t know about you, but to me, that’s a very loving act. You can second guess God all day long, but ultimately, He is looking through a hole of infinite size while you are only looking through a pinhole.

God bless,
jd
 
spockrates said:
Precisely! For God to do everything he could do would be powerful, but contradictory. It would be a display of omnipotence, but not a display of omniscience. For it would be illogical and unwise. Neither would it be a display of omnibenevolence, as it would be unloving and out of character for the omnibenevolent God. A God who knows all, always knows what is wise and will not do otherwise. He always does what results in the greatest love.

Rock, paper, scissors, my virtual friend! Love covers power, so God does not do everything, but only that which is most loving. Agreed?
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Spockrates:

However, it was stipulated up-front that God does not do the contradictory. Whether He could or not, is another discussion. But, we believe that He doesn’t do such things. Nevertheless, that He does not do such things in simultaneity, does not mean that He withholds Omnipotence. He is doing an infinity of things that we don’t know about. What we know about is only what we know about. That is our limitation. We have no justification for projecting anything about it.

However, I do agree that, unmodified, He does do everything which is most loving. 🙂

God bless,
jd
 
JDaniel said:
Spockrates:

Why? Because He took them back before they had the opportunity to make themselves completely corrupted? I don’t know about you, but to me, that’s a very loving act. You can second guess God all day long, but ultimately, He is looking through a hole of infinite size while you are only looking through a pinhole.

God bless,
jd
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Good point! I suppose my statement would better apply to those now forever in hell.
 
JDaniel said:
Spockrates:

However, it was stipulated up-front that God does not do the contradictory. Whether He could or not, is another discussion. But, we believe that He doesn’t do such things. Nevertheless, that He does not do such things in simultaneity, does not mean that He withholds Omnipotence. He is doing an infinity of things that we don’t know about. What we know about is only what we know about. That is our limitation. We have no justification for projecting anything about it.

However, I do agree that, unmodified, He does do everything which is most loving. 🙂

God bless,
jd
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Yes. We are in agreement, there. Do you think it might be that God has a perfect ballance of power, love and wisdom?
 
spockrates said:
I’m thinking there are things that can be known, which God does not know, but I’d like to know what others think.

🙂
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Impossible! God knows everything! There is nothing in the past or in the future which He already does not know.
 
Nicea325 said:
Impossible! God knows everything! There is nothing in the past or in the future which He already does not know.
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Hi Nicea. Glad to see ya’! Does God know the guilt of being caught in a lie, or the sincere need to be forgiven for his own sin?

“…it is impossible for God to lie… .”

(Hebrews 6:18)
 
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